Young Afghans are fleeing abroad and requesting political asylum in the highest numbers for a decade as they anxiously eye the withdrawal of foreign troops and seek work, figures show.

More than 30,000 Afghans applied for political asylum worldwide in the first eleven months of last year in a 25 per cent increase on the previous year, according to United Nations statistics.

The figure has trebled since four years ago despite the international coalition ploughing billions of pounds into Afghanistan to try and boost the economy, rebuild infrastructure and defeat a Taliban-led insurgency.

The actual number leaving is likely to be far higher than those seeking asylum and is also believed to be increasing. The majority are economic migrants seeking a better life abroad according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), rather than fleeing security threats.

However officials said uncertainty over what happens as aid declines and foreign combat troops withdraw by the end of 2014 was influencing their decision to leave Afghanistan.

A World Bank forecast last year said the Afghan economy was so reliant on foreign aid that it could face a deep economic crisis as aid drops off.

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Marco Boasso, who leads the IOM mission in Kabul, said: "The majority of people arriving in Europe are not refugees or people under threat.

They are economic migrants." Afghans desperate to leave can pay as much as £13,000 to people-smuggling gangs to be trafficked to Europe or Australia and frequently face robbery, assault or abandonment along the way.

Britain is a favoured destination, though applications for asylum in Britain have dropped in recent years officials said.

Tajma Kurt, who manages an IOM programme helping Afghans who have returned home, said the outlook of many young people had grown more pessimistic in the past five years.

She said: "Before, they were looking for a job, discussing buying a house or whatever.

"Now, they are all thinking of leaving because the situation has deteriorated dramatically and they don't see that it's going to get much better."